The United Nations in Myanmar, together with national and international partners, is supporting health authorities and scaling up efforts to prevent and control the outbreak of COVID-19 and improve access to health care in humanitarian settings in the country, in line with the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan.
The UN is focusing on vulnerable communities and front-line health workers. To this end, the Myanmar Humanitarian Fund has mobilized the first reserve allocation of US$2 million, including $1 million from the Access to Health Fund to support a coordinated response to COVID-19 related actions for displaced people and other vulnerable crisis-affected people in Chin, Rakhine, Kachin, Shan and Kayin states.
This week has also seen the UN in Myanmar, together with national authorities, mobilize $700,000 to procure necessary medical equipment to conduct 20,000 tests for COVID-19.
Also this week, the UN will deliver much-needed personal protective equipment, including 150,000 surgical gloves and 500,000 surgical masks, to the Ministry of Health and Sports to support front-line health workers.
Country-based Pooled Funds have provided a combined US$78.3 million to COVID-19 pandemic responses across 15 countries.
Original source: UNOCHA
Published on 15 April 2020